Never too late to learn
Torrie Fedor, a sophomore majoring in English education, received a violin when she was 12 years old and planned on taking lessons, but never did.
Now that she’s in college, she finally feels like she has the time, money and opportunity to fulfill her dream of playing the violin.
Like Fedor, many students choose college as a time to learn a new instrument, although this can pose unique challenges.
Mark Emile, a professor of strings in the music department, described the difficulties that students learning an instrument for the first time in adulthood face.
He says that human muscles have been trained to do a variety of things beginning when we are very young, from simple tasks like opening doors or eating to more complex tasks like writing. A child is like a “gummy doll” that can adapt to many different tasks, motions and and reflexes and incorporate them into their regular understanding, he said.
A 5-year-old who begins training on violin is able to learn the motions and muscle reflexes necessary to play their instrument relatively quickly because their muscles and reflexes are so moldable, Emile explained.
Meanwhile, an adult learning a new instrument who already has a set range of motion and reflexes that they have learned has to train their muscles to stretch and perform in ways they’ve never done before. Emile said the body “revolts against it physically and emotionally.”
These cognitive and physical differences make learning an instrument as an adult a slower process, Emile says, and causes their performance to peak at a lower level than someone who started as a child.
“Someone who starts as a child might cover twice the material with a greater degree of accuracy [than adult beginner],” he said.
However, despite the difficulties, learning an instrument as a college student is still very possible.
Austin Weyand, a local guitar instructor, says that passion and desire to play are as important as talent and when the player began. “It’s never too late to learn,” said Weyand, who didn’t begin learning guitar himself until he was 16 years old.
Similarly, Emile says that while the first year of playing can be very difficult for new students, those who persevere usually find satisfaction with their playing.
Emile says that it is not unusual for students who begin as freshmen to play in an orchestra, either on campus or in the community, by their senior year.
Having previous musical experience makes the learning process of a new instrument much easier, since Weyand said that the “whole package of learning an instrument” comes much easier to students with previous musical experience. Fedor says that her previous experience playing piano, guitar and singing made playing the violin much easier because she is able to read music.
USU and the rest of Cache Valley offer many different opportunities for students to learn an instrument.
On campus, the music department offers many classes, such as the strings for non-music majors classes with Emile, to learn an instrument.
Also, there are a number of off-campus private instructors, such as Weyand, in the Logan area.
Several students expressed satisfaction with their playing ability after taking group classes on campus. Suzanne Poindexter, a first-year master’s student in community health, says that the group guitar class helped her get decent at the guitar very quickly, saying she “was able to play songs in the first two weeks.”
However, Brianna Stamps, a junior majoring in English, added that it took a lot of hard work, discipline and practice to master everything.
“It’s important not to get discouraged right away,” Fedor said. However, Emile says that it can be “very satisfying [for students] to overcome their beginning difficulties as an adult,” and that he enjoys working with new students because of their excitement to learn the instrument. Weyand concluded that “all students, regardless of playing level, can find a lot of satisfaction and enjoyment in playing.”
tliljegren@cc.usu.edu